Lucid Motors is recalling 225 units of its Air electric sedans in the US after discovering that improperly secured bolts could cause the half-shaft to disconnect from the drive unit, potentially resulting in a sudden loss of power.
According to documents filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the recall covers 2024–2026 model-year Lucid Air Pure rear-wheel-drive (RWD) vehicles.
Both the Air Touring and Grand Touring variants are unaffected since those models feature dual drive units that can maintain propulsion even if one half-shaft fails.
The recall covers vehicles built between September 23, 2023, and July 23, 2025 with Lucid estimating that about 90% of those vehicles may have the defect.
“Based on failure data, Lucid estimates that approximately 90% of the affected vehicle population determined through the lash detection algorithm would have the defect condition over time,” the company stated.
A half-shaft disconnection “can result in a loss of drive power, increasing the risk of a crash,” the NHTSA said in its acknowledgment letter dated October 14.
Lucid’s internal investigation found that the issue stemmed from “interruption of torque operations during the adhesive curing window,” with possible contributing factors including contaminated or reused bolts and damaged adhesive.
The EV maker began investigating field reports of half-shaft disengagements last year.
Lucid initially believed the risk was low, limited to nine cases that occurred while vehicles were stopped or moving slowly. But a deeper probe this summer showed the problem might be more widespread.
On September 30, Lucid’s Product Safety Executive Council determined the defect posed an “unreasonable risk to safety” for Air Pure RWD models.
The Newark, California-based brand developed a “lash detection algorithm” that analyzes vehicle telematics data to identify affected cars.
The algorithm can detect loose half-shaft bolts that are likely to fail while the vehicle is in motion.
Vehicles built after July 25, 2025, were not included in the recall because Lucid had already implemented new manufacturing countermeasures by that time.
The luxury brand will remove, inspect, and replace the half-shaft bolts free of charge, according to the NHTSA report.
Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on December 5, and affected customers can contact Lucid’s customer service.
The company identified Bossard Inc. of Phoenix, Arizona, and GKN Automotive of Mexico as Tier-1 suppliers for the recalled components.
The Sapphire, Air’s top trim variant, has recently been named the ‘2026 German Performance Car of the Year’ at the German Car of the Year (GCOTY) Awards.
In Germany, the luxury variant is priced at €250,000 ($292,000) fully equipped, with business leasing options starting from €2,900 per month including VAT.
It accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in under two seconds and reaches a top speed of 330 km/h.
